if senator mccain and senator graham a others want to go after somebody, they should go after me. i'm happy to have that discussion with them. >> reporter: when pressed by fox news in his own role reacting to the terror attack the president did not directly answer questions raised by some relatives of the four americans killed in bening about whether he did enough to save their lives. >> i would like for you to address the families, if you can, on 9/11 as commander-in-chief. did you issue any orders to try to protect their lives? >> ed, i will address the families not through the press. i'll address the families directly. as i already have. we will provide information available about what happened on that day. >> on the question whether he personally issued any orders that night, the president gave a general response about reaction from the state department and other agencies. >> their number one priority is protect american lives. that's what their job is. i can tell you immediately upon finding out that our folks were in danger, my ordinaries were do whatever we need to do to ke